


Blue and Red

by Nowaki



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Based on an ask, Feels, M/M, Nobody Dies, Rin needs all of the hugs, So much angst, Sorry Not Sorry, Tumblr request, Tw mentioned trauma, childhood prank gone wrong, color blindness soulmate au, sharkbait - Freeform, tw drowning, tw near death experience, tw offscreen childhood trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-05
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 15:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8215543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nowaki/pseuds/Nowaki
Summary: AU where everyone is colorblind until they meet their soulmate.When Haru meets Rin, he's finally able to see color... but his soulmate isn't exactly what he had in mind.Haru almost wishes he wasn't able to see color at all. Until suddenly he doesn't.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Vienamarie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vienamarie/gifts).



> If you need more info on the Trigger Warnings please see bottom notes.
> 
> So like, a long time ago I saw a tumblr post that was like: what if you were color blind until you locked eyes with your soulmate?  
> I figured that would be a great angsty fic with these two. I sat on the idea for over a year and then Viena asked me to do a prompt that said: we're designed to be disposable.  
> Obvously this was the perfect opportunity to write the angst fic I always wanted! Yay!

They told him that the ocean was blue. Water was blue. Even the sky was blue. 

Haru's eyes were blue like the ocean but he had no idea what blue looked like. No one his age did. None of them could see color, not yet anyway.

Science had yet to figure it out yet, why people were colorblind until they met their soulmate's eyes. It didn't make sense from an evolutionary standpoint and it wasn't like there was a special chemical reaction that happened. Most people chalked it up to fate.

Haru decided early on that it was stupid. He didn't need a soulmate so long as he had the water.

 

"You must be Haru."

Haru's world turned red the instant he looked up. He didn't yet know the name but he was swallowed up by a pair of crimson eyes. Time seemed to slow for a moment as they gazed into each other's eyes and Haru found himself frozen in place. The other boy's mouth was open but he was rendered speechless.

The spell was broken the second Haru blinked and he used his freedom to glance down at the water.

Blue was more beautiful than he could have imagined. Haru dove in before anyone could could stop him.

 

Rin turned out to be extremely annoying. He transferred to Iwatobi immediately and managed to be put in Haru's class. It was bad enough they went to the same swim club. Now he couldn't even eat lunch without the redhead forcing him into a conversation.

The problem was that they were polar opposites. Rin was loud. He laughed and smiled at everything and everyone. He quickly became popular at Iwatobi. Haru, on the other hand, just wanted to swim.

He figured there must have been a mistake. There was no way that fate really intended for him to spend his life with someone so obnoxious, who constantly pushed him out of his element.

 

Rin was bright red, a fiery hot color that demanded attention. Haru felt he was more of a calm blue.

Rin must have thought so too as these were the colors that he chose for the matching bracelets he made them. He snuck the dumb thing into Haru's backpack after swim practice one evening. After a week of pretending he hadn't found it, Rin decided to retrieve it himself.

"I made one for each of us so that people know we're soulmates." He told Haru as he tied it around his wrist.

He thought the whole thing was silly but Haru wore it from then on. He didn't get embarrassed easily and it wasn't a huge hassle. Besides, he didn't want Rin to cry. That would only cause more trouble down the line.

 

"What's it like being able to see color?" Makoto asked them,

"It's amazing!" Rin gushed. "It's like, everything is so bright now! Usually you don't see in color until you're older but Haru and I are very lucky to have met so soon!"

"You're lucky you met at all. All of my dad's siblings are color blind."

Haru didn't feel very lucky. In fact, he wouldn't have minded if he spent the rest of his life seeing only shades of black and white. Rin only made things difficult.

 

Rin wanted to swim a relay. At first Haru thought it was another stupid thing he thought they had to do because they were soulmates. He resisted until Rin told him that swimming a relay was important to him because of his late father. Once again, Haru conceded in order to spare the tears. He almost backed out, when Rin told them that he was leaving for Australia.

"It's my dream to become an Olympic swimmer." He explained.

Haru didn't know how to answer. As troublesome as it was, he didn't necessarily want Rin to leave.

 

In his second year of middle school, Haru stopped being able to see color. He'd seen movies where a character blinked and suddenly it was gone. As startling as that was, in reality it was so much worse. Haru watched the colors of his room all fade to grey and knew there was nothing that he could do. Haru wasn't like Rin or Makoto. He was realistic. He knew what the change in vision meant.

His soulmate was gone.

 

Haru quit swimming.

 

Before Rin, Haru's only experience with death had been the passing of his grandmother. She'd known he didn't truly understand it yet and had explained it the best that she could.

"We are designed to be disposable." She told him. "One day, I'll be gone but the world doesn't stop for one, little old woman and neither should you."

 

"We're designed to be disposable." He repeated to himself at night. It didn't make him feel any better but his grandmother had been right.

We were designed to be disposable. Anyone could go at any time.

 

When Rin came to the first thing he saw was a paramedic leaning over him. His skin had turned grey, just like his hair and outfit. For a moment Rin though that the man must be sick, to be turning that shade, but then he backed off and Rin discovered that the whole world had turned grey.

Lori and Russel insisted that his color blindness only returned because his heart had stopped but he knew the real reason. He was no longer worthy of his soulmate. How could he be? His own teammates had held him under water until he finally stopped moving.

There was no way Rin was worthy of someone like Haru.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long!

"A mere week of color is better than never seeing the sunset." Miss Amakata recited. She was off on another tangent and thus would be in her own little world until it was time for lunch.

Haru looked out the window where everything was bathed in grey. The sky was blue, the grass was green and cherry blossoms were pink. There was a world of color that he'd only had the fortune of seeing for a mere two years.

He'd already forgotten some colors, like orange and yellow, though he'd never forget what red looked like.

 

"You could find someone else." Makoto told him as they headed up to the roof. Haru hadn't said anything, but he hadn't needed to. Makoto understood.

"You're named after your mother's first soulmate right? Well maybe you'll also have a second one." Makoto continued. "Even if you don't, people who aren't destined to be together fall in love all the time."

Haru shrugged. _Not interested._ Makoto understood.

He missed swimming but it was impossible to do it without remembering vividly the colors red and blue. Colors that only Rin could show him.

"We're designed to be disposable," he reminded himself. It had been two years. He needed to move on and forget about swimming.

Then Nagisa showed up and Haru knew that forgetting wouldn't be as easy as he'd hoped.

 

When Rin reappeared in the abandoned swim club, Haru couldn't believe his eyes. It had been four years but he knew who it was instantly. He would recognize Rin anywhere.

He was different now. He scowled the whole time and wasn't nearly as talkative. If Nagisa and Makoto hadn't seen him, Haru would have thought it was all just a bad dream.

He was almost glad that Rin wouldn't look him in the eye. Things were different now and he just wanted his life back.

 

"You're going to swim for me." Rin growled, pinning Haru to a fence. He wouldn't admit it but he'd been scared the first time they met. He'd already lost everything once and if Haru stopped being his soulmate permanently, he wasn't sure he could handle it.

Rin forced himself to look into Haru's eyes but they were on the ground.

Haru didn't want him.

Rin couldn't blame Haru for not wanting him in his life. He had only just began swimming competitively again. He had a new team of friends to support him.

He didn't need Rin anymore.

 

"I'll never race you again."

Rin was staring right past him. Haru knew because he needed the color red in his life more than ever.

 

Haru knew exactly where Rin was when he went missing after his race. The minute he'd seen the sakura tree, he'd thought of Rin. His hair was slightly pink, like the flower petals.

"Why are you here, Haru? Come to laugh at me too?" Rin asked. He still hadn't turned around but maybe he'd known that Haru would come for him.

"I found the reason why I swim." Haru told him honestly. He saw Rin flinch. "I know who I'm swimming for now."

"Shut up!" Rin snapped, turning around and grabbing him. 

Haru let himself be tackled. They struggled a little, Haru trying to make Rin look him in the eyes, but he wasn't as strong as Rin. The redhead ended up on top, tears running down his cheeks.

"Rin, open your eyes." Haru begged, his voice betraying emotion that he usually hid so well.

"What if it doesn't come back?" He asked, muttering almost too quietly for Haru to hear.

"It will."

Rin grimaced but he hesitantly forced an eye open. Nothing changed.

Rin buried his face in Haru's chest, sobs wracking his body. He whined something in English that Haru couldn't understand, however he was too far gone to even attempt a guess.

"People fall in love all the time without being destined for one another," Haru said, rehashing what Makoto had once told him.

"It's not fair. I worked so hard to deserve you."

"Maybe I don't deserve you?"

Rin pulled back, fire dancing in his crimson eyes. "What are you talking about?" 

Haru couldn't answer.

"What kind of joke is that?" He snarled, sharp, white teeth gleaming. "Nanase fucking Haruka, not worthy of me? Give me a break."

"Rin?"

"You don't even have to work out in order to be good at swimming. That kind of natural ability shouldn't even exist!" He narrowed his eyes, dark red lashes framing the bright irises.

"Rin."

"Yeah, I know. I beat you, but that isn't the point." He complained, digging his fingers into Haru's yellow tshirt. "You quit swimming while I trained my ass off in Australia, but you were still able to keep up with me."

"Rin!" He nearly shouted.

"What is it?"

Haru looked at him pointedly. Makoto would have been able to translate, if he were there, however Rin had yet to learn his expressions. Instead, Haru was forced to watch as the realization dawned on him.

"What? How?"

"When you opened your eye, did you even look?" Haru asked.

"Of course!"

Haru hummed. "You were probably focusing between my eyes."

"Was not!"

"Rin."

The redhead looked away, a bittersweet smile creeping onto his face. "I dream about you in color, I almost forgot this was reality."

Haru watched, transfixed as Rin settled his gaze back on him. His eyes were watering once again.

"It isn't too late. We can swim the relay together."

Rin looked at him like he'd grown a second head but before he could argue, the rest of the team had shown up. Rei insisted that Rin take his place.

"If I've learned anything from being on the swim team, it's that fate can be a funny thing." Rei said, smiling at Nagisa. "If they hadn't needed a fourth member, I wouldn't have met my soulmate... but that doesn't mean I'm met to swim with them. Not this year at least."

"You're soulmates?" Makoto asked, looking between the first years. Haru was surprised but more so that Makoto hadn't known. He had enough self awareness to know he missed things like that easily.

"We didn't want to say anything, since Haru was in mourning." Nagisa explained.

"Oi, I wasn't dead that long." Rin argued, causing even more of a stir.

"The relay is about to start." Makoto said firmly, interrupting Nagisa before he could start a game of twenty questions. "I'm sure Rin will stick around and can explain what happened _after_ we win."

 

For once, Haru didn't look at the water as soon as he was poolside. He didn't even think about it until Rin stepped onto the diving block. 

He glanced back at Haru, red hair and eyes a complete contrast to everything else that he loved. "This time, you'd better only look at me." 

Haru smiled, something his face had never been great at doing, and, for once, Rin understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took me forever to write this. Yuri on Ice came out and now I'm obsessed with figure skaters. ^^'
> 
> This is far from being my best work. My heart wasn't in it. I'm sure other people can do a much better job with this concept and if you feel so inclined, please feel free to take this idea. Let me know, I'd love to read whatever you come up with. ^^;
> 
> Again, I'm sorry for how long it took and how lousy the ending is. ^^;

**Author's Note:**

> Note on the TW: (this happens offscreen) Rin is held underwater. It is only mentioned, not detailed.  
> This actually happened to me when I was a kid. My best friend held me under until I blacked out. Kids do stupid shit like that because they don't know any better. They weren't trying to be vicious, but if this is triggering for you it's totally cool to dip out.
> 
> EDIT: I didn't think very many people would be interested in this! I'm not that great of a writer so I hope I don't disappoint you all but yes, this will become a multi-chapter fic. Thank you all for the comments and kudos! (:  
> Feel free to bother me on tumblr if I don't update quickly enough. Nowaki-star.tumblr.com


End file.
